JP2008183746A - Liquid supply device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stably supply a liquid by forcibly eliminating air bubbles entered into a liquid supply channel for supplying a liquid from a main tank to a sub-tank to thereby prevent the liquid supply channel from being blocked with the air bubbles. <P>SOLUTION: An air bubble 19 entered into an ink supply tube when replacing an ink cartridge is trapped in an air bubble capture section 18 to prevent an ink channel section 181 from being blocked, wherein the air bubble 19 is trapped at the upper part of the ink channel section 181 having a larger volume. When the air bubble 19 trapped in the ink channel section 181 exceeds a predetermined amount, the air bubble capture section 18 operates an actuator 182 to shrink the ink channel section 181 and open an opening and closing valve 183 to discharge the trapped air bubble 19 from the ink channel section 181. Thus, the air bubble 19 entered into the ink is reliably discharged to prevent the entraining of the air bubble 19 into the ink supply tube to stably supply the ink from the ink cartridge to the sub-tank. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid supply device that supplies ink for forming an image on a recording medium by ejecting ink from a nozzle of a recording head, and an image forming apparatus using the same. In particular, the present invention relates to stabilization of liquid supply when liquid is supplied from a main tank to a sub tank via a liquid supply flow path by discharging ink or the like from a recording head without using a supply pump.

  2. Description of the Related Art Inkjet recording apparatuses are used in various applications in recent years because they can record at high speed, can be recorded on plain paper without requiring a special fixing process, and can be obtained at a relatively low price. This ink jet recording apparatus uses a recording head in which an ink liquid chamber and nozzles communicating with the ink liquid chamber are formed. By applying pressure to the ink in the ink liquid chamber according to image information, ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle to make paper, film, etc. An image is formed on the recording medium.

  In this ink jet recording apparatus, if bubbles stay in the ink supply flow path that is supplied from the main ink tank to the sub tank mounted on the carriage together with the recording head, ink cannot be stably supplied from the ink tank to the sub tank. Depending on the case, the ink supply channel may be blocked.

  In order to remove bubbles remaining in the ink supply flow path between the ink tank and the sub tank and supply the ink stably, the ink jet recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 uses the upper wall of the horizontal portion of the ink supply flow path. A groove with a fine width is provided, and even if air bubbles stay in the horizontal portion and block most of the ink supply flow path, the circulation of the ink is ensured by the surface tension acting on the ink in the groove.

  In addition, the ink jet recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 is configured such that the upper housing that forms the filter front chamber on the upstream side of the filter is moved up and down with respect to the lower housing having the filter of the filter unit provided between the ink tank and the sub tank. A bubble trap unit is provided at the top of the front chamber of the filter to store bubbles generated in the ink, and the volume of the front chamber of the filter is increased by moving the upper housing upward to increase the volume of the bubble trap unit. The air volume is increased to trap air bubbles above the ink supply port of the ink supply path from the ink tank to prevent the ink supply port from being blocked by the air bubbles. When it is detected that a predetermined amount of bubbles has accumulated in the bubble trap part, the upper housing is moved downward to reduce the volume of the filter front chamber, and the bubbles are discharged and removed by suction from the nozzles of the recording head. ing.

In addition, the ink jet recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 3 is provided with a bubble holding unit above an ink holding unit of an ink buffer unit which is mounted on a carriage and has a primary side connected to an ink tank and a secondary side connected to a recording head. Provided, the air bubbles mixed in the ink supply flow path are accumulated in the air bubble holding portion, and the air bubbles accumulated in the air bubble holding portion at the time of recording head maintenance recovery are sucked and removed from the nozzles of the recording head.
JP 2005-186588 A JP 2005-231357 A JP 2001-277544 A

  As shown in Patent Document 1, a groove having a fine width is provided on the upper wall of the horizontal portion of the ink supply flow path to ensure ink circulation even when air bubbles stay and block most of the ink supply flow path. Even in this case, the fluid resistance of the ink flowing through the fine width groove is large, the flow rate of the ink flowing through the ink supply flow path is small, and the ink is used when forming a solid image or the like for supplying a large amount of ink from the recording head. Insufficient supply occurs and the formed image is deteriorated.

  In addition, as shown in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3, even if a bubble trap part is provided in the ink supply flow path from the ink tank, it is stable when the ink supply flow path is blocked with bubbles and cannot be sent to the bubble trap part. As a result, ink cannot be supplied.

  The present invention improves such disadvantages and prevents the air bubbles mixed in the liquid supply channel for supplying the liquid from the main tank to the sub-tank and forcibly discharging the liquid supply channel to prevent the liquid supply channel from being blocked by the bubbles. It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid supply apparatus that can supply liquid and an image forming apparatus using the liquid supply apparatus.

  The liquid supply apparatus of the present invention includes a main tank that stores liquid, a sub tank that supplies the liquid stored in the main tank through a liquid supply flow path, and a head that discharges the liquid in the sub tank. In a liquid supply apparatus that supplies liquid from the main tank to the sub-tank by discharging liquid from the head without using a liquid supply pump, the liquid supply flow path includes a bubble capturing unit that captures bubbles mixed in the flowing liquid The bubble capturing unit has a liquid channel part partially formed of an elastic member, an actuator, and an on-off valve, and the liquid channel part is located at a head position where the liquid inflow side is higher than the liquid outflow side. Provided, capturing bubbles mixed in the liquid flowing in the liquid supply flow path, the actuator presses and contracts the liquid flow path portion, and the on-off valve It will open when the liquid flow path section was contracted with actuator, characterized by discharging the air bubbles trapped in the liquid flow path portion.

  A second liquid supply apparatus according to the present invention includes a main tank that stores liquid, a sub tank that supplies the liquid stored in the main tank through a liquid supply flow path, and a head that discharges the liquid in the sub tank. And a liquid supply device that supplies liquid from the main tank to the sub-tank by discharging liquid from the head without using a liquid supply pump. The liquid supply channel captures bubbles mixed in the flowing liquid. A bubble capture unit, the bubble capture unit having a liquid channel part and an actuator partially formed of an elastic member, and the liquid channel part is located at a head position where the liquid inflow side is higher than the liquid outflow side. Provided, the air bubbles mixed in the liquid flowing in the liquid supply flow path are captured, and the actuator presses and contracts the liquid flow path portion and traps in the liquid flow path portion. The air bubbles introduced into a downstream side of the bubble trap portion of the liquid supply channel, characterized by discharging by feeding air bubbles that led to the liquid supply passage to said sub-tank.

  In the second liquid supply apparatus, the liquid flowing in the liquid supply flow path is pressurized, and bubbles guided to the liquid supply flow path are sent into the sub tank.

  Further, in the second liquid supply apparatus, the liquid flowing through the liquid supply flow path is sucked, and bubbles guided to the liquid supply flow path are sent into the sub tank.

  Further, the liquid flow path section is formed such that the volume on the liquid inflow side is larger than the volume on the liquid outflow side.

  Furthermore, the bubble trapping portion is provided on the upstream side of the liquid supply channel near the main tank.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes any one of the liquid supply devices, supplies ink stored in the main tank to a sub tank mounted on a carriage, and supplies ink in the sub tank to a recording head. It is characterized by.

  The present invention captures bubbles mixed in the liquid flowing in the liquid supply flow path with the liquid flow path section of the bubble capture section, and presses and contracts the liquid flow path section with the bubble captured by the actuator to open the on-off valve. Since the bubbles captured in this manner are discharged, the bubbles can be prevented from staying in the liquid supply channel, and the liquid can be supplied stably through the liquid supply channel.

  In addition, the liquid channel portion is provided with the liquid inflow side at a higher head position than the liquid outflow side, so that the bubbles mixed in the liquid can be stably captured and the bubbles flow into the liquid supply channel downstream of the bubble capturing portion. Therefore, the trapped bubbles can be reliably discharged, and the liquid can be stably supplied through the liquid supply channel.

  In addition, air bubbles mixed in the liquid flowing in the liquid supply channel are captured by the bubble capturing unit, and the liquid channel unit that captured the bubbles is pressed and contracted by an actuator to capture the captured bubbles. By guiding and discharging further downstream, the trapped bubbles can be reliably guided downstream from the bubble capturing part of the liquid supply channel and discharged, and liquid can be stably supplied through the liquid supply channel. Can do.

  Furthermore, the air bubbles guided to the liquid supply channel can be reliably discharged by pressurizing or sucking the liquid flowing through the liquid supply channel.

  Moreover, the liquid flow path part can capture air bubbles mixed in the liquid reliably by forming the volume on the liquid inflow side larger than the volume on the liquid outflow side.

  In addition, by providing the bubble capturing unit on the upstream side of the liquid supply channel near the main tank, it is possible to prevent bubbles from remaining on the downstream side of the bubble capturing unit of the liquid supply channel, so that the liquid can be stably supplied. Can be supplied.

  The liquid supply device is provided in the image forming apparatus, and the ink stored in the main tank is supplied to the sub tank that is mounted on the carriage and supplies ink to the recording head that discharges ink from a plurality of nozzles. A stable image can be supplied, and a high-quality image can be stably formed.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view seen from the front side of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. The image forming apparatus includes an apparatus main body 1, a paper feed tray 2 that is attached to the apparatus main body 1 and stores recording paper, and a paper discharge tray 3 that is attached to the apparatus main body 1 and stores recording paper on which an image is recorded (formed). And have. An upper surface cover 4 is provided on the upper side of the apparatus body 1 so as to be openable and closable. Further, one end portion of the front surface 5 of the apparatus main body 1 has a cartridge loading portion 6 protruding forward and at a position lower than the upper surface cover 4, and an operation key, a display, etc. are provided on the upper surface of the cartridge loading portion 6. An operation unit 7 is provided. The cartridge loading unit 6 has a front cover 8 that can be opened and closed on the front surface thereof. By opening the front cover 8, an ink cartridge 9 that is a main tank for replenishing ink can be attached and detached.

  As shown in the side configuration diagram of FIG. 2 and the plan configuration diagram of FIG. 3, the mechanism portion of the image forming apparatus includes a carriage 13 that includes a guide rod 11 and a stay 12 that are horizontally mounted on a side plate of the apparatus body 1. Is slidably held in the main scanning direction, and is moved and scanned in the carriage main scanning direction by a main scanning motor. The carriage 13 has a recording head 14 composed of four ink jet heads for ejecting ink droplets of each color of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (Bk). They are arranged in a direction crossing the main scanning direction, and are mounted with the ink droplet ejection direction facing downward. The recording head 14 uses a piezoelectric actuator such as a piezoelectric element as an energy generating means for ejecting ink, an electrothermal conversion element such as a heating resistor, a thermal actuator that uses a phase change caused by liquid film boiling, and a temperature change. A shape memory alloy actuator using a metal phase change, an electrostatic actuator using an electrostatic force, or the like can be used. For example, the recording head 14 has a piezoelectric actuator.

  Further, the carriage 13 is equipped with a sub tank 15 which is a liquid container of each color for supplying ink of each color to the recording head 14. Ink is supplied to the sub tank 15 from the ink cartridges 9 of each color via the ink supply tube 16. Here, the ink cartridge 9 contains ink of each color of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (Bk) corresponding to each color. The sub-tank 15 for supplying ink to these recording heads 14 and the ink cartridge 9 for replenishing and supplying ink to the sub-tank 15 constitute an ink supply device.

  As a paper feeding unit for feeding the recording paper 22 stacked on the paper stacking unit (pressure plate) 21 of the paper feed tray 2, a half-moon roller (feeding) that separates and feeds the recording paper 22 one by one from the paper stacking unit 21. The paper roller 23 and the paper feed roller 23 are opposed to each other, and a separation pad 24 made of a material having a large friction coefficient is provided. The separation pad 24 is urged toward the paper feed roller 23 side.

  A transport belt 31 for electrostatically attracting and transporting the recording paper 22 as a transport unit for transporting the recording paper 22 fed from the paper feed tray 2 from the guide 25 to the lower side of the recording head 14; A counter roller 32 for transporting the recording paper 22 sent from the paper supply unit via the guide 25 while sandwiching it between the transport belt 31 and the recording paper 22 sent substantially vertically upward are turned approximately 90 degrees. A conveyance guide 33 for following the conveyance belt 31 and a tip pressure roller 35 urged toward the conveyance belt 31 by a pressing member 34 are provided. In addition, a charging roller 36 that is a charging unit for charging the surface of the transport belt 31 is provided. Here, the conveyance belt 31 is an endless belt, and is configured to be wound around the conveyance roller 37 and the tension roller 38 and to circulate in the belt conveyance direction as shown in FIG. The charging roller 36 is disposed so as to come into contact with the surface layer of the transport belt 31 and rotate according to the rotation of the transport belt 31, and a pressure of 2.5 N is applied to both ends of the shaft, for example.

  A guide member 41 is disposed on the back side of the conveyance belt 31 so as to correspond to a printing area by the recording head 14. The upper surface of the guide member 41 protrudes toward the recording head 14 from the tangent line between the conveying roller 37 and the tension roller 38 that support the conveying belt 31. As a result, the conveyance belt 31 is pushed up and guided by the upper surface of the guide member 41 in the printing region, so that highly accurate flatness is maintained.

  As a paper discharge unit for discharging the recording paper 22 recorded by the recording head 14, a separation claw 51 for separating the recording paper 22 from the conveyance belt 31, a paper discharge roller 52, and a paper discharge roller 53 are provided. A paper discharge tray 3 is provided below the paper discharge roller 52. Here, the height from the sheet discharge roller 52 and the sheet discharge roller 53 to the sheet discharge tray 3 is increased to some extent in order to increase the amount that can be stored in the sheet discharge tray 3.

  A double-sided paper feeding unit 61 is detachably mounted on the back surface of the apparatus body 1. The double-sided paper feeding unit 61 takes in the recording paper 22 returned by the reverse rotation of the conveying belt 31, reverses it, and feeds it again between the counter roller 32 and the conveying belt 31. A manual paper feeding unit 62 is provided on the upper surface of the double-sided paper feeding unit 61.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, in one non-printing area of the carriage 13 in the scanning direction, a maintenance / recovery mechanism 71 which is a reliability maintaining means for maintaining and recovering the nozzle state of the recording head 14 is arranged. An empty discharge receiving member 81 is disposed in the other non-printing area. The maintenance / recovery mechanism 71 includes cap members 72a, 72b, 72c, 72d that are capping means for capping the nozzle surface of the recording head 14, a wiper blade 73 that is a wiping means for wiping the nozzle surface, and idle ejection. It has a receiving member 74 and the like.

  In this image forming apparatus, an ink supply flow path of an ink supply device 17 constituted by a sub-tank 15 for supplying ink to the recording head 14, an ink cartridge 9 for supplying ink to the sub-tank 15, and an ink supply tube 16. As shown in FIG. 4, the ink supply tube 171 and the ink supply tube 16 which are upstream of the ink supply channel formed by the ink supply tube 171 and the ink supply tube 16 connected to the ink cartridge 9 are connected to each other. It has a bubble trap 18 provided between them. The ink supply device 17 supplies the ink stored in the ink cartridge 9 from the ink cartridge 9 to the sub tank 15 by ejecting ink from the recording head 14 without using an ink supply pump.

  The sub tank 15 has an air release machine lecture section 151 at the top. The ink cartridge 9 is made of, for example, a highly rigid housing that is formed of polyethylene, polypropylene, noryl, or the like having a thickness of at least 0.5 mm and does not easily deform. The ink supply tube 171 has a pipe-shaped needle portion 172 made of stainless steel or the like at the tip portion. When the ink cartridge 9 is attached to the cartridge loading portion 6, the needle portion 172 of the ink supply tube 171 is provided on the bottom surface of the ink cartridge 9. The rubber plug 91 that closes the hole is inserted into the ink cartridge 9 and connected to the ink cartridge 9. Further, the cartridge loading section 6 has an air release tube 174 having a pipe-shaped needle portion 173 made of stainless steel or the like at the tip portion, and rubber that closes a hole portion provided on the bottom surface of the ink cartridge 9 with the needle portion 173. The ink cartridge 9 is connected to the inside of the ink cartridge 9 through the stopper 92, and the inside of the ink cartridge 9 is opened to the atmosphere. When the ink cartridge 9 is removed from the cartridge loading section 6 and the connection between the ink supply pipe 171 and the atmosphere release pipe 174 is released, the rubber plugs 91 and 92 are blocked in the holes by elastic force and remain in the ink cartridge 9. Prevents ink that has leaked out. The ink cartridge 9 includes a detection sensor that detects the ink state and a transmission unit that transmits information detected by the detection sensor.

  As shown in the configuration diagram of FIG. 5, the bubble capturing unit 18 includes an ink flow path unit 181, an actuator 182, and an on-off valve 183, part of which is formed by an elastic member 180. The ink flow path 181 is provided such that the ink inflow side 184 is at a higher head position than the ink outflow side 185, and the volume of the ink inflow side 184 is formed larger than the volume of the ink outflow side 185. The ink inflow side 184 is connected to the ink supply tube 171, and the ink outflow side 185 is connected to the ink supply tube 16. The actuator 182 presses the upper portion of the ink flow path portion 181 to contract the ink flow path portion 181 and reduce the volume. The on-off valve 183 is opened when the ink flow path 181 is contracted by the actuator 182 and opens the ink flow path 181 to the atmosphere.

  An operation of trapping and discharging bubbles mixed in the ink supply pipe 171 by the bubble capturing unit 18 will be described. Air bubbles enter the ink supply pipe 171 when the ink cartridge 9 is replaced. The mixed bubbles 19 flow from the ink supply pipe 171 into the bubble capturing section 18 and into the ink flow path section 181. The ink inflow side 184 of the ink flow path portion 181 into which the air bubbles 19 flow is at an upper portion that is higher than the ink outflow side 185, and the volume of the ink inflow side 184 of the ink flow path portion 181 is the volume of the ink outflow side 185. Since it is larger, the bubble 19 that has flowed into the ink flow path 181 is trapped in the upper part where the volume of the ink flow path 181 is large and prevents the ink flow path 181 from being blocked. Thus, the ink can be supplied stably.

  If the amount of the bubbles 19 trapped in the ink flow path portion 181 exceeds a predetermined amount, the ink flow path portion 181 is blocked and the stable supply of ink is hindered. Therefore, for example, when the ink cartridge 9 is replaced, the bubble trap 18 operates the actuator 182 to contract the ink flow path 181 and opens the on-off valve 183 as shown in FIG. The bubble 19 is discharged from the ink flow path 181.

  The bubbles 19 mixed in the ink are trapped in the upper part of the ink flow path 181, the ink flow path 181 is contracted and the on-off valve 183 is opened to discharge the trapped bubbles 19 to be mixed in the ink. Thus, it is possible to reliably discharge the bubble 19 and prevent the bubble 19 from being mixed into the ink supply tube 16, and to stably supply ink from the ink cartridge 9 to the sub tank 15. Further, since the bubble capturing unit 18 is provided on the upstream side of the ink supply flow path to trap the bubbles 19 mixed in the ink, the bubbles 19 can be prevented from flowing into the ink supply tube 16, and the sub-tank from the ink cartridge 9 can be prevented. 15 can stably supply ink.

  Although the case of discharging to the outside by the bubble capturing unit 18 has been described, the bubble 19 trapped by the bubble capturing unit 18 may be guided to the ink supply tube 16 and sent to the sub tank 15 and discharged to the outside by the sub tank 15.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the ink supply device 17a that sends the bubbles 19 trapped by the bubble capturing unit 18 to the sub-tank 15 and discharges them, the ink cartridge 9 has a flexible ink storage unit 93 inside, The ink storage unit 93 is connected to the pressure pump 175 and pressurized by the pressure pump 175. As shown in FIG. 8, the bubble capturing part 18 a includes an ink flow path part 181 and an actuator 182, part of which is formed by an elastic member 180. The sub tank 15 has an air release machine lecture section 151 at the upper end.

  When the ink supply device 17a discharges the air bubble 19 trapped in the air bubble capturing portion 18a as shown in FIG. 9A, the ink flow passage portion 181 is moved by the actuator 182 as shown in FIG. 9B. The bubble 19 pressed and trapped is pushed between the ink inflow side 184 and the ink outflow side 185. In this state, the pressure pump 175 is driven to apply pressure to the ink storage portion 93 in the ink cartridge 9 to push out the ink and supply it to the sub tank 15. The bubble 19 between the ink inflow side 184 and the ink outflow side 185 is guided to the ink supply tube 16 by the pushed ink flow and sent to the sub tank 15. The bubbles 19 sent to the sub tank 15 are discharged to the outside from the atmosphere release machine lecture unit 151. In this way, the bubbles 19 are trapped in the bubble capturing portion 18a, and the trapped bubbles 19 are forcibly guided to the ink supply tube 16 and discharged by the sub tank 15, whereby the bubbles 19 stay in the ink supply tube 171 and the ink supply tube 16. The ink can be stably supplied.

  The atmospheric release machine lecture section 151 provided in the sub tank 15 may be a normal opening / closing valve, or a switching valve that is opened / closed by an actuator provided in the maintenance / recovery mechanism 71. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, a holder 154 provided with a valve seat 153 having a guide hole 152 having a plurality of grooves on the inner peripheral surface at one end and a tapered surface on the inner peripheral surface, A movable valve 156 in which a valve body 154 having a tapered surface on the upper end outer peripheral surface and a pressing pin 155 is integrated is attached from the other end opening, and the tip of the pressing pin 155 protrudes from the guide hole 152 to the other side. A spring retainer 159 that is attached to the end opening, has an air release hole 157 at the end, and holds the coil spring 158 is inserted and fixed, and the valve body 154 of the movable valve 156 is seated by the biasing force of the coil spring 158. The switching valve 160 pressed against the switch 153 is used, and the switching valve 160 is attached to the portion of the sub tank 15 for opening to the atmosphere to constitute the opening-to-atmosphere machine section 151.

  Then, when discharging the bubbles sent to the sub tank 15 by driving the pressure pump 175 after being trapped in the bubble capturing portion 18a, for example, the pressing pin 155 is pushed by an actuator provided in the maintenance / recovery mechanism 71, and the valve body 154 is moved to the valve seat 153. The air bubble 19 sent into the sub tank 15 may be discharged by opening the switching valve 160 away from the air.

  Although the ink supply device 17a has been described with respect to the case where the bubble capturing portion 18a having the ink flow path portion 181 and the actuator 182 formed by the elastic member 180 is provided, as shown in FIG. 11, a part of the ink supply tube 171 is provided. Alternatively, the bubble trap 18b may be configured by the bubble reservoir 186 and the actuator 182 formed of a material that can expand and contract in the upward direction. In this case, when the bubbles 19 mixed in the ink and flowing through the ink supply pipe 171 reach the position of the bubble reservoir 186, they are trapped in the bubble reservoir 186 by buoyancy as shown in FIG. The bubble reservoir 186 trapped by the bubbles 19 is pressed by the actuator 182 as shown in FIG. 12B, and the trapped bubbles 19 are introduced into the ink supply pipe 171 and sent to the sub tank 15 to be discharged.

  The ink supply device 17a causes the ink in the ink cartridge 9 to be pushed out by the pressurizing force of the pressure pump 175, and the bubbles 19 pushed out from the bubble trapping portions 18a and 18b by this ink flow are sent to the sub tank 15. As described above, as shown in FIG. 13, the recording head 14 is sealed with the cap member 72, the ink is sucked by the suction pump 75, and the bubbles 19 pushed out from the bubble capturing portions 18a and 18b are sent into the sub tank 15. good.

  The ink supply device 17a has been described with respect to the case where the air bubbles 19 pushed out from the air bubble capturing portions 18a and 18b are sent to the sub tank 15 and discharged. However, as shown in FIG. A bubble reservoir 186 a connected to the suction pump 187 may be provided, and the bubbles 19 trapped in the bubble reservoir 186 a may be sucked and discharged by the suction pump 187.

In the above description, the ink supply device 17 has been described, but it can be similarly applied to a liquid supply device that supplies a liquid other than ink to prevent bubbles from staying in the liquid supply channel.

It is the perspective view seen from the front side of the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is a side block diagram which shows the machine part of an image forming apparatus. It is a plane block diagram which shows the machine part of an image forming apparatus. It is a block diagram of an ink supply apparatus. It is a block diagram of a bubble capture part. It is a schematic diagram which shows operation | movement of a bubble structure part. It is a block diagram of a 2nd ink supply apparatus. It is a block diagram of the bubble capture part which has in a 2nd ink supply apparatus. It is a schematic diagram which shows operation | movement of the bubble capture part which has in a 2nd ink supply apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the switching valve which comprises the atmosphere release machine course of a sub tank. It is a block diagram of the other bubble capture part which has in a 2nd ink supply apparatus. It is a schematic diagram which shows operation | movement of the other bubble capture part which has in a 2nd ink supply apparatus. It is another block diagram of the 2nd ink supply apparatus. It is a block diagram of another bubble capture part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1; Apparatus main body, 6; Cartridge loading part, 9: Ink cartridge,
13; carriage, 14; recording head, 15; sub tank,
16; Ink supply tube, 17; Ink supply device, 18; Bubble capturing unit,
19; Bubble, 72; Cap member, 75; Suction pump, 151;
160; switching valve, 171; ink supply pipe, 175; pressure pump,
181; ink channel portion, 182; actuator, 183; on-off valve,
186; Bubble reservoir, 187; Suction pump.

Claims (7)

A main tank storing liquid, a sub tank supplied with the liquid stored in the main tank through a liquid supply channel, and a head for discharging the liquid in the sub tank, and without using a liquid supply pump In a liquid supply apparatus that supplies liquid from the main tank to the sub tank by discharging liquid from a head,
The liquid supply channel has a bubble capturing unit that captures bubbles mixed in the flowing liquid,
The bubble capturing part has a liquid channel part partially formed of an elastic member, an actuator, and an on-off valve,
The liquid flow path portion is provided at a head position where the liquid inflow side is higher than the liquid outflow side, and captures bubbles mixed in the liquid flowing in the liquid supply flow path.
The actuator presses and contracts the liquid channel part,
The on-off valve is opened when the liquid channel portion is contracted by the actuator, and discharges bubbles trapped in the liquid channel portion. A main tank storing liquid, a sub tank supplied with the liquid stored in the main tank through a liquid supply channel, and a head for discharging the liquid in the sub tank, and without using a liquid supply pump In a liquid supply apparatus that supplies liquid from the main tank to the sub tank by discharging liquid from a head,
The liquid supply channel has a bubble capturing unit that captures bubbles mixed in the flowing liquid,
The bubble capturing part has a liquid flow path part and an actuator partly formed of an elastic member,
The liquid flow path portion is provided at a head position where the liquid inflow side is higher than the liquid outflow side, and captures bubbles mixed in the liquid flowing in the liquid supply flow path.
The actuator presses and contracts the liquid channel part, and guides the bubbles captured in the liquid channel part to the downstream side of the bubble capturing part of the liquid supply channel,
A liquid supply apparatus, wherein bubbles introduced into the liquid supply flow path are sent to the sub tank and discharged.   The liquid supply apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the liquid flowing in the liquid supply flow path is pressurized and air bubbles guided to the liquid supply flow path are sent to the sub tank.   The liquid supply apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the liquid flowing through the liquid supply channel is sucked and bubbles introduced into the liquid supply channel are sent to the sub tank.   5. The liquid supply device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid flow path portion has a volume on the liquid inflow side larger than a volume on the liquid outflow side.   The liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bubble capturing unit is provided on an upstream side of the liquid supply flow path near the main tank.   7. A liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink stored in the main tank is supplied to a sub tank mounted on a carriage, and the ink in the sub tank is supplied to a recording head. An image forming apparatus.

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